Uncategorized
The Hall of Fame Index: Andrew McCutchen vs. Bernie Williams and Kirby Puckett
n previous articles, I’ve described the Hall of Fame Indexas a more advanced version of similarity scores. It’s one thing to be similar in counting numbers, but when you are similar in terms of value you start to see similarities in the individual components that make up overall value. We
The Hall of Fame Index: Ryan Braun vs. George Foster and Heinie Manush
The Hall of Fame vote is a human endeavor. The LPGA Tour has taken that concept away from their sport by just having a certain number of tournament wins get you automatically in. As much as I would love to have a system like the Hall of Fame Indexor JAWS
The Hall of Fame Index: Omar Vizquel vs. Rabbit Maranville, Luis Aparicio, and Phil Rizzuto
Not every position has someone ready to knock on Cooperstown’s door. Only one significant shortstop has ten or more seasons in. Elvis Andrus has the service time, but his index score is not a significant threat. Andrelton Simmons probably comes closest on the index end, but he has only eight
The Hall of Fame Index: Evan Longoria vs. Robin Ventura and Jimmy Collins
When we get to the modern third basemen we get to an interesting question as it pertains to the Hall of Fame. It is called the Baseball Hall of Fame. It isn’t called the MLB Hall of Fame or the Professional Hall of Fame. So, how much do we count
The Hall of Fame Index: Robinson Cano vs. Ryne Sandberg and Bobby Grich
The Hall Fame Index Part IIwent beyond the first edition by breaking each position into tiers with the top 50 position players at each position. The idea behind that was to make it easier to compare players. After all, if someone finished with 317 index wins there is no telling
The Hall of Fame Index: Albert Pujols vs. Jimmie Foxx and Jeff Bagwell
One of the hallmarks of greatness is when your choices on similarity comparisons are limited. Everyone knows Albert Pujols is the greatest living first baseman. We could compare him to the two other possible players with him in that stratosphere, but everyone gets dwarfed by Lou Gehrig, and we really
The Hall of Fame Index: Buster Posey vs. Gabby Hartnett and Jorge Posada.
Similarity scores were a terrific invention by Bill James. Essentially, every two players start at 1000 and get points deducted for the differences between the basic counting numbers. The concept was simple. If you want to know if a player is a Hall of Famer then you look at who
Hall of Fame Index: Who is the least qualified pitcher in the Hall of Fame Part III
Now that we move to the last four guys selected by the Veterans Committee, our focus changes considerably. In short, none of these guys should be anywhere near the Hall of Fame. I’m on pretty firm footing making that statement and I’m not stating anything that anyone else has said
Hall of Fame Index: Who is the least qualified pitcher in the Hall of Fame Part II
As we move to the second list of Veterans Committee pitchers we suddenly run head long into the distinction that was made in the book The Hall of Fame Index Part II. Asking whether any of these individual pitchers are legitimate Hall of Famers is the wrong question. The question
Hall of Fame Index: Who is the least qualified pitcher in the Hall of Fame Part One
As we move to the mound, we have some issues to sort through. The book pretty well addressed the 19thcentury pitchers, so I will address primarily those pitchers selected by the Veterans Committee that we didn’t address in The Hall of Fame Index Part II. That ends up being 20